The use of connectors for joining relatively massive bodies and which must be capable of taking up substantial forces or stress in a direction in which these bodies may tend to separate are well known in various fields.
For example, in land vehicles, it is known to couple cars of trains, tractors and trailers and, in general, a towing vehicle with a toed vehicle by a connector which involves the use of a male connecting member on one body or article and a female connecting member on another. The principal drawback of this connection approach is that not every end or side of each body can be connected to every end or side of another body because two male connectors or two female connectors cannot be joined.
In rail applications, for example, so-called hermaphrodite connectors have been proposed which allow one object to be joined to either end of another object because each connector can act either as a male connector or as a female connector or in a neuter manner, i.e. neither as a male nor as a female connector utilizing a pin or other element to ultimately form the junction.
Hermaphrodite connectors have found less application in other fields but are equally desirable.
The connectors with which the invention is concerned, can be used in these applications and in other applications such as space, where the connector can couple portions of space vehicles together to form a space station or platform, such as the sea in which the connectors can join portions of ships or barges together, and, indeed wherever high load connection is required.
One of the principal difficulties with earlier connectors is that they are incapable, if provided with suitable actuating appliances to take up substantial loads in directions tending to separate the bodies or articles which are to be coupled.
Accordingly in some connector applications, force takeup utilizing members which re collaterally brought into play has been required. Such members, which can engage over connecting elements, are frequently referred to as guillotine because they are customarily inserted in a direction transverse to the direction in which the coupling member extends and thus have an action similar to the blade of a guillotine.
Applicant is aware of the following U.S. Patents which relate to connectors:
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. 399,532; U.S. Pat. 346,559 U.S. Pat. 488,586; U.S. Pat. 485,500 ______________________________________
In Applicant's view, these patents do not disclose or suggest a structure as recited by Applicant's, because they do not have tongue structures which cooperate in a truly hermaphrodite manner with actuators as described below. In U.S. Pat. No. 488,586, for example, the two coupling members appear to be complimentary but are not truly identical whereas in the system of U.S. Pat. No. 485,500, the swinging actuation of a tongue does not form the coupling structure.